A panel of judges found him guilty of disseminating hate speech, in a case that rights activists have described as an attack on freedom of speech. "It's pathetic that during a national crisis, the Indonesian authorities seem more interested in silencing online critics like Jerinx than undertaking a massive COVID-19 public information campaign," Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said. The charges sprung from a post on the musician's Instagram account last June in which he criticised the Indonesian Medical Association and called it a "lackey" of the World Health Organisation. Prosecutors had sought for Jerinx, who had previously attracted controversy for spreading conspiracy theories about the coronavirus, to be jailed for three years. Indonesia's Institute for Criminal Justice Reform said in a statement the verdict was legally flawed and “clearly dangerous for the democratic climate in Indonesia”.

Source: bd News24 November 19, 2020 09:45 UTC